What are some food products that could only be found in some state?

24 comments

1. Abita – The Boot

2. The abomination of a sandwich known as a “fluffernutter”.

3. Pasties I think are really only popular in northern Michigan and maybe northern Minnesota

4. I’m tempted to say lobster but it is regional and gets exported.

   The better answer is probably Moxie. It pops up in a few nearby states but it has its epicenter in Maine.

   Whoopie pies are pretty local.

   For Rhode Island it has to be pizza strips and doughboys. Those are pretty local especially given how small the state is.

5. New Glarus beer can only be sold in Wisconsin. Although people do try.

   >In 2009, a New York City bar was raided and fined for illegally selling Spotted Cow. In 2015, a bar in Maple Grove, Minnesota, also was caught illegally selling Spotted Cow after the establishment’s owner allegedly purchased kegs in Wisconsin and took them back to Minnesota for retail sale. ([x](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Glarus_Brewing_Company))

6. Region, not a particular state but scrapple isn’t too common outside of the PA/NJ/DE area.

7. A lot of family-owned soda brands don’t really care to sell outside a certain area. Cheerwine is only in a few Southern states, and Dr. Enuf- almost like a Mountain Dew with herbal flavors- is only sold in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

8. *Poke*, *kalua* pork and *loco moco* are all indigenous to Hawaii.

   One can find actual cheesesteaks only in Philadelphia and surrounding PA counties. It’s a “steak and cheese” anywhere else.

9. Chili with cheese on it on top of a plate of spaghetti noodles

10. Pimento cheese, bialies, huckleberries, bergoo are all that come to mind

11. Are pimento cheeseburgers a thing outside the Carolinas?

12. Boudin, tasso, boudin balls, boudin egg rolls, crawfish half and half

    And before Texans come at me, y’all call it boudain, it’s not the same.

13. In New York: black and whites or half moon cookies. Thought the bakery seriously fucked up some sugar cookies. Now I know they’re meant to feel like cake.

    In Texas (and a couple surrounding states): sweet sopapillas.

14. Apparently cheese curds are only found in dairy states. The rest of ya’ll are missing out.

15. Smith Island cake. You can get them in a handful of towns on Delmarva (and on Smith Island, obviously), they’ll ship one to your house ($$$), or you can try to make your own (good luck!).

16. Isaly’s Chip Chop ham is a regional thing in Eastern Ohio and Western PA.

17. I don’t know that there are any, besides maybe craft food/beverages that might be found at one location. Most things in the US have been exported to the rest of the country by now, you could argue that the “real” version of a particular food is only in one state, but I don’t think that’s a good argument. Now, Hawaii and Alaska probably have some outliers, but for the lower 48, you can usually find anything anywhere.

18. Provel cheese (Missouri and parts of Illinois)

19. There are many foods strongly associated with a particular state, but there are likely few foods that can absolutely *only* be found within a state’s borders. There will always be some restaurant somewhere across the country advertising themselves as serving authentic whatever from that state.

    The exception might be something like a very regional brand of beer or something like that, because there are much tighter laws on alcohol shipping and distribution. For example there’s a brand of beer that famously distributes only within Wisconsin; a few years ago a bar in New York was penalized for illegally importing and selling it. That kind of enforcement won’t happen with food products, though.

20. moon pie

21. Cherry salsa

22. Fastnachts! Used to get them in southeastern PA but can’t find them elsewhere. They are a doughnut made with mashed potatoes, usually made for Fat Tuesday. We do have Spudnuts here in Ohio but they are not the same thing.

23. Dutch Crunch bread is pretty rare outside northern California.

24. New England Chinese food is unlike any Chinese food outside of New England.

    South shore (of Boston) bar pizza can only be found there. Frozen Cape cod pizza is not the same.

    The further you get from MA the harder it is to get Fluff.